She is Barbara Jean Day Addams, Charles Addams' first wife. As seen below, Barbara was the inspiration for Morticia of the Addams Family.

Identify the automobile

This was Charles Addams' supercharged 1927 Mercedes S-Type. He received the automobile as a gift from playwright Philip Barry (1896-1948), author of Holiday (1928) and Philadelphia Story (1939). Addams raced the Mercedes in the 1948 Junior Prix at Watkins Glen.

Congrats to Steve Lucas, Sam Berliner III, Art Kleiner, and John Bayer for identifying Charles and Barbara Jean Addams. Kudos to Sam Berliner III and John Bayer for identifying the 1927 Mercedes S-Type.

Charlie created the character who became known as Morticia in 1933, many years before he married Barbara or either of his two other wives, all of whom had that look. The photograph of Charlie drawing Morticia as Barbara “poses” was nothing more than a set-up shot. Barbara told me that she hated all that referencing of her and Morticia and, after her divorce from Charlie, she cut her hair into a page-boy and wore it that way the rest of her life.

1927 Mercedes S-Type (Supercharged)

From “Here at The New Yorker” by Brendan Gill:
“Racing came more naturally to Charlie [Addams] than to Philip [Hamburger] and me; he has always been a collector of fast cars and in his youth he used to take part in races out on Long Island. He likes both fast cars and very old ones: in the nineteen-forties, he received as a present from the playwright Philip Barry, then living in East Hampton, a 1928 Mercedes-Benz, which Ellen and Philip Barry had driven on the Riviera in the gaudy twenties (the car was sacred for having been occupied by, among others, Sara and Gerald Murphy, Zelda and Scott Fitzgerald, Léger, and Picasso) and which eventually died, much mourned, in Charlie’s arms. Today [1975] he owns a 1926 Bugatti, a 1933 Aston-Martin, and, for purposes of ordinary transportation, a 1973 Alfa-Romeo.

Charles Addams drove the Mercedes (#1 in the second row) at the Watkins Glen 1948 Junior Prix.

Addams, wearing a deer-stalker hat, finished 11th of the 23 starters.

Charles and Barbara at the 1951 Bridgehampton Races.

Charles Addams based this cartoon "Uncle Fester prepares to go racing with Morticia in an old Mercedes" on his 1927 Mercedes.

Comments

Dec 05 2015Steve Lucas9:53 PM

That’s famous cartoonist Charles Addams and his wife Barbara. Some say that Morticia from “The Addams Family” was drawn by Addams to look like Barbara. As to the car: no idea so I’ll just guess 1924 Bentley.

Dec 06 2015S. Berliner, III3:19 PM

Too funny! I was just about to comment on the LI Auto Museum thread that I caught glimpses of this car, in the chopper views of the parade! It’s macabre cartoonist Charles Addams and one of his three wives, the first two named Barbara, both of whom resembled his cartoon character Morticia Addams. It’s probably #2, Barbara Jean Day. They are sitting in his 7.02 litre 1927 Mercedes S-Modell Tourer, which was GIVEN to him by a friend! At the time of the parade and the 1951 Brideghampton races, it was painted deep green with black fenders/wings and red underside and brake drums, with a polished bare-metal hood/bonnet. For more on this car, see:

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The six Vanderbilt Cup Races held on Long Island from 1904 to 1910 were the greatest sporting events of their day, and the first international automobile road races held in the United States. The races had a far-reaching impact on the development of American automobiles and parkways. This site provides comprehensive information on the races, the Long Island Motor Parkway and current Long Island automotive events, car shows and news.